Fishing rod is a living history; someone else's has survived MIA

Among my most treasured possessions is "Killer," a fishing rod so important to me I won't hand it to even my closest friends because I don't want to jeopardize our relationship should an accident happen.

I do let my wife catch fish with it because she seems to like being constantly hugged from behind.

View full size"Killer," a hand-made, go-to fishing rod for nearly three decades, has become a family member. Most anglers have at least one favorite they use more than any other -- except for one unknown individual who lost a well-worn and time-tested rod this season in the lower Columbia River.Bill Monroe/Special to The Oregonian

The blank was given to me for my 40th birthday (1984) and I built the rod myself, with red, white and blue wrappings tinged with gold. Killer has caught countless salmon, walleye, sturgeon, a halibut (incidental in Puget Sound while salmon fishing), albacore tuna and all the attendant incidentals.

He (yes, it's a family member) was miraculously overlooked during a burglary some years back. Horrified that Killer might have been taken too, relief engulfed me in a wave when I found and locked him up; before even calling the cops or my insurance agent.

Most of us have a "Killer" in our rod rack.

Most of us except at least one, that is.

A couple weeks ago, son Bill Jr. was guiding friends David Chis of Oregon City and Darrell Ehl of Happy Valley at Buoy 10 when Chis' rod bent over. Rather than pulsing with a salmon, however, or even having the line peel steadily off (snagged), it simply stayed bent.

Weeds or jellyfish, Bill guessed, and had Chis reel slowly in ... only to find his tackle caught on someone else's line. As they began bringing it in, hand-over-hand, the line suddenly came to life - there was a salmon on the other end!

The exhausted 20-pound chinook (caught on bait and a flasher; it had broken off the weight/dropper) was netted and as Chis tagged the fish, Ehl pulled the other end until, to everyone's surprise, a rod and reel was also boated.

But it's not just any new rod and reel that took a dive overboard during the melee at Astoria this summer. It's an older rod of a well-recognized brand, its sweat-worn cork handle dark with patina, pocked with missing chunks...and a few fish scales still stuck to its finish, even after the extended bath.

This rod is someone's "Killer" and, having survived the horror of nearly losing mine, we'd all like to see it returned and hear some of its stories.

So please, if you lost your rod to a vicious salmon strike at Buoy 10, or know someone who did (hopefully not your or their former fishing partner), please contact me. I'll need a pretty accurate description of the setup and then hope to share its storied history.

... Or else the boys will use it to create their own future memories. Beware! Speaking of nightmares, maritime pilots, ship captains and lots and lots of cops are sweating feverish paths through thousands of boats trying to intercept this fall's near-record run of salmon on the Columbia River.

From the river's busy mouth to shipping lanes from Longview to Portland, to barge traffic to Bonneville and beyond, it just seems a matter of time before one of those behemoths simply cannot stop or go around a stubborn (or inattentive) anchored angler.

A cryptic note from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office Marine Division:

"Remember, if a ship is coming you need to move. Please don't leave your anchor ball behind to save your spot. These are often caught in the ships rudder or screw and can disable the vessel.

"Please take the time to educate those around you. If you're in the channel, and the ship captain sounds (the horn), you should be moving. Even if you think he can go around. If the captain has to alter the course of the vessel to go around, you are in violation."

Yes, by the way, a metal anchor with its rope and chain can disable (and potentially ground) a ship.

For you smart phone smarties sitting on the hook in the same deep channel fall chinook prefer, check this Web site. It's a graphic, interactive real-time display of the world's shipping traffic and a few clicks will bring vessels plying the Columbia River into your life.

... Before they get there. Wild coho season expands: Beginning Sunday, anglers can keep wild coho north of Cape Falcon as well as south. That means anglers out of the Columbia River can keep two legal size salmon, coho or chinook, regardless of the presence of an adipose fin.

The rule will apply seven days a week north of Cape Falcon, but the wild-coho fishery south of the cape is only Sunday and Monday, then every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Biologists will review catches after the first two open periods with an eye to expanding the open fishing days.